OKC Thunder: Potential Roster Cuts Ahead of 2023-24 Season
With NBA Summer League concluded, pinning the spotlight on the Thunder’s incoming draft picks and second and third-year contributors, there are some tough decisions OKC and General Manager Sam Presti must make.
There are a plethora of players vying for a roster spot this summer as October’s roster deadlines approach, similarly to last season. As mentioned, the Thunder do have its locks, though, primarily 12 of them.
Of course, with incoming rookie Chet Holmgren entering off a Lisfranc injury, which spoiled his entire 2022 season, he’ll begin his first-year campaign alongside guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey, defensive stalwart Lu Dort and breakout sophomore Jalen Williams.
Productive bench players like Isaiah Joe, Kenrich Williams and last season’s freshman starting center in Jaylin Williams certainly seem to have obtained their roster spots. Ongoing projects in Aleksej Pokusevski, Ousmane Dieng and two-time EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic, who inked a three-year, $23.5 million deal with the Thunder, seemed to be solidified on the roster pending any unknown circumstances.
The Thunder’s No. 10 draft pick in Cason Wallace has plenty of upside on both sides of the ball to fit the Thunder’s ongoing scheme of long, versatile guard play as a rookie, which certainly sees him with a spot on the roster. OKC's No. 50 draft pick in Keyontae Johnson was awarded a two-way contract for this season.
So, what’s left are trade assets from the summer in TyTy Washington and Usman Garuba, acquired from Houston, injury-plagued Victor Oladipo, acquired from Miami, and Davis Bertans, acquired from Dallas in the draft as a salary dump. Returning third-years in Tre Mann, Aaron Wiggins, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and newly-acquired free agent Jack White also land here.
Dissecting OKC’s guards, it may have been difficult to picture Mann in the long-term plans following a rough sophomore campaign. But that seemed to shift at Summer League in Las Vegas. In four summer league games, Mann posted 20.5 points per game while shooting 53% from the field and 46.4% from three.
Mann was paired with another smaller, crafty guard in TyTy Washington. In two summer league performances, Washington notched four points on 2-for-5 from the field and two assists in about 19 minutes of play, and then followed up with eight points and five rebounds in his second outing averaging about the same amount of playtime.
Outlining these two players, it may seem obvious between the statistics, established chemistry and newly-found confidence, that Mann would be the more advantageous scoring-centric guard to keep, especially considering experience.
Mann has played 127 games in his two seasons, averaging nine points on 39.3% shooting and 1.7 assists per game, while Washington played just 31 games with the Rockets last season, averaging 4.7 points on 36.3% shooting and 1.5 assists per game in his rookie season.
With the Thunder’s guard play continuing to get deeper, Washington would have to be exemplary in camp to edge out Mann if one of them were to earn a spot. But even so, Washington has plenty of upside despite his early-career woes, and it will be interesting to see his execution in training camp.
Next, OKC is taking the cap hit from Oladipo’s $9.5 million deal next season on an expiring contract alongside two future second-round draft picks following an exchange with Miami for a trade exception.
Oladipo is an acclaimed player throughout the league as he enters his 13th season, but injuries have sidelined him for 255 out of 374 games since his initial major injury with the Pacers in 2019. It is difficult to see Oladipo making the 15-man roster, as the trade seemed to be a strategy to increase draft capital as general manager Sam Presti is typically keen on.
Moving over to the 6-foot-5, versatile wing Aaron Wiggins, he’s been a steady contributor for the Thunder in many utilizations on the scoring, rebounding and defensive fronts in his first two years. Because of his utility, range and defensive presence, I’d imagine Wiggins certainly has himself a spot on the roster come October.
With established forwards Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Davis Bertans, it seems to get a little trickier, especially when adding G-League standout Jack White and former Rocket Usman Garuba.
Robinson-Earl is a forward who’s yet to find his exact role with the Thunder as a third-year player entering this season, lacking conventional size for a center in the NBA and without a skill set to act as a stretch forward. Despite that, he’s still been productive when on the floor, averaging 7.2 points and five boards in his first two seasons.
Bertans — who’s been in the league since 2011 — is a 30-year-old, 6-foot-10 floor-spacer with the ability to knock threes at a high clip. He averaged 4.6 points and shot 39 percent from three last season with the Mavericks.
With these details in mind, the Thunder was in demand for a stretch big last season without Holmgren. But even with Holmgren entering this season as a primary, lengthy outside threat, there’s still room for Bertans off the bench.
Lastly, there is Garuba and White. In the 2022-23 season, Garuba spent much of his season backing up Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr., averaging three points and 4.1 rebounds per game throughout 75 games as a two-way interior force.
White, a 6-foot-7 former Denver Nugget on a two-way contract with Grand Rapids Gold last season, played just 17 games and averaged 1.2 points and a rebound per game as a rookie. With Grand Rapids Gold, White averaged 20.9 points and nearly two threes per game.
As White inked a standard NBA contract with OKC, the decision between Garuba and him will be one to watch unfold, as will the entire decision-making process from the Thunder staff before the beginning of the regular season.
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